Your Brain on Facts: Things You Didn't Know, Things You Thought You Knew, and Things You Never Knew You Never Knew

by Moxie LaBouche

When Trivia Isn't Trivial
The world is full of things you didn’t know, things you thought you knew, and things you never knew you never knew. From the eponymous podcast comes Your Brain On Facts.

Train your brain. So what if you picked up some historical inaccuracies (and flat-out myths) in history class. Your Brain On Facts is here to teach and reteach readers relevant trivia. It explains surprising science in simple language, gives the unexpected origins of pop culture classics, and reveals important titbits related to current issues.

A brain food boost. Get ready for trivia night done right. Inside, find true facts, strange facts, and just plain weird facts. Your Brain on Factsfeatures general trivia questions and answers, offering science, art, technology, medicine, music, and history trivia to brainiacs everywhere.

Learn:

What’s the language of the stateless nation in the Pyrenees mountains
Where the world-changing birth control pill was tested
Who wrote lyrics for the Star Trek theme song that were never used
If you enjoyed The Book of General Ignorance, The Best Bar Trivia Book Ever, The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information, and The Book of Unusual Knowledge, you’ll have a blast with Your Brain On Facts.

236 pages, Paperback

Published June 16, 2020

About the author

Growing up with six sisters was guaranteed to have lasting effects, as would attention-deficit/hyperactivity. For Moxie LaBouche, these manifested as an intense appetite for new information and a relentless desire for attention, especially to be the center thereof.

For the better part a decade, Moxie performed as a burlesque dancer, with a style that ranged from sensual to screw-ball. She specializes in “nerd-lesque,” dressing up as (then undressing as) beloved fictional characters, from “Hot Lips” Houlihan to Eeyore. Regardless of the act, Moxie always had bonus facts for the emcee to include in your introduction. In her burlesque career, Moxie also produced the only George RR Martin-approved “Game of Thrones” tribute show and was invited to speak about burlesque in the 2016 TEDxRVA.

One thing that was consistent throughout Moxie’s life was a love of interesting facts. Her brain was filled with overflowing...and overflow it did. Consciously, Moxie knew that her customers at the grocery store didn’t want to hear about the prehistoric ground sloths that used to spread avocado pits (that’s why the pits are so huge); they just wanted to pay for their avocados and leave. Still, Moxie could not help herself, even dropping facts into arguments and other awkward social situations.

When the Universe made it clear to Moxie repeatedly that it was time to stop doing burlesque, her husband introduced her to podcasts to help fill the gap. After some reluctance, she tested the waters with Unorthodox and 99% Invisible, and Moxie was hooked. Soon she was subscribed to a hundred shows. The influx of facts in meant that facts would have to come out somewhere, so the natural choice was the launch the Your Brain On Facts podcast.

Moxie lives in Virginia with her husband and a dozen or so pets on the property where she used to raise goats and sold handmade soap for a living.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long and not sorry.
I first was introduced to Moxie via her Podcast because friends kept trying to get me to listen to them.
Went to my player, typed facts, scrolled randomly, looked for a female name, clicked, third and last attempt I found it, the best Podcast EVER!
Nice voice, good pace, and more of a story than fact,fact,fact,etc.

When I found out she had a book I HAD to have it (not I started from Podcast 1 & so behind the 8ball on things announced), put it on my Christmas list for 2020, didn’t get it, but my co-worker got it in 2021 & bragged about the book, podcast to all who would listen (my co-worker got it for her son!)

Why say all this because her book is her podcast on paper. I’m a slow reader because ADHD is a thing and even a book I LOVE a book I stop reading randomly. But that didn’t matter the short story like facts with a non-sleepy writing style made my ADHD happy.

Can’t wait for the next one, off to listen to enjoy her podcast in the meantime.

[Christian Sterner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across the podcast as I was driving across the country. California to South Carolina. I listened to every episode. I obviously had to buy the book after I ran through the podcasts. It's been about 5 months regrettably before I could write a review of the book because I was in college after the military. What I can tell you is this book will give you a direct look at facts regardless of bias with a plethora of sources. If you came from her podcast her voice resonates in the book and you will have same experience as if her iconic voice was reading to you personally.

[Sajil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book version of one of my favorite factoid podcasts. The author has a very ASMR soothing voice, but sometimes I don’t catch all the trivial details when I’m listening in the car, so this was fun to read on my iPad where I could instantly go down the internet rabbit hole when one of her factoids piqued my curiosity for even more detail into unbelievable-but-true stories. (A-)

[Carrie Stauber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book just as I love the podcast. Endlessly fascinating, I read it repeatedly as I catch new things every time. I listen to the podcast episodes repeatedly, as well.
I consider this author a devout humanitarian and a very important voice as well as being a source of unique and singular entertainment.

[M.K. Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Brain on Facts is a smorgasbord of knowledge, backed up with trivia and wrapped in information. If you crave the true story behind the things you thought you knew or wanted to understand, you’ll find yourself engrossed in these often-obscure, always interesting tidbits.

[Sandra Mendonça · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would go as far as a 3.5
It's interesting and nicely written. So why won't i give it a higher score? Because it started out well, but towards the end i must say i didn't find the topics that interesting. However the interest is in the eye of the beholder.

[Piers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really loosely thrown together selection of facts with barely any context or "colour" added to them. Very dry, hard to follow, and ultimately I don't think I remember any of the things that were in it a day or two after finishing.

[Kim Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very interesting and I learned a lot I didn’t know. It was very random and had no clear organization, but it was a worthwhile listen.